Mail-bag rack.



PA'IQENTED AUG. 6; 1907. M, s. FIELD.

MAIL BAG RAUK. APPLICATION TILED JAN. 15 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

r: NORRIS PETERS ca wnsmwarqm, 9. c.

No. 862,243. PATENTED AUG. 6, 1907.

' M. S. FIELD.

MAIL BAG RACK. 7

APPLICATION rum) JAN. 1a. 1906.

'2 SHEETS-SHEET z.

UNITED STATES MAROELLUS S. FIELD, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

MAIL-BAG RACK.

Specification of Letters Patent. v

Patented Aug. 6, 1907. 1

Application filed January 15, 1906. Serial No. 296,064-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARoELLUs S. FIELD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Mail-Bag Racks, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to mail-bag racks such as are used in post offices in the separation and distribution of bulky mail matter. These racks are usually in the form of a frame having an open inclined top and provided with means for supporting the mail pouches or mail-bags in open position, so that the clerk standing by the table on which the mail to be distributed is dumped, can throw each piece of mail into the proper mail-bag or sack. Often times a mail-bag rack is made of a size to support a dozen or twenty or even more mailbags, and the mail-bags in the back row or at the back end of the mail-bag rack are so far from the mail clerk that considerable dexterity is required on his part to accurately throw each piece of mail into its appropriate mail-bag; and even by exercising great care, it -is not always possible to prevent some mail from being thrown clear over the mail-bag rack and landing on the floor behind said rack. Whenever mail is thus thrown wide of its mark, and carried over the mail rack, the mail clerk is required to stop his work of sorting the mail and take time to gather up this stray mail.

The object of my present invention is to provide a novel back stop to be applied to these mail-bag racks, which when in operative position, will absolutely prevent any mail from being thrown over the rack.

The mail-bag racks are usually constructed with longitudinally extending rods at their tops from which the mail sacks are supported, and I propose to attach my novel back-stops to the rod at the back side of the rack in such a way that said stops may be thrown up into operative position above the top of the rack, or may be turned down into inoperative position below the level of the top of the rack. When in the latter position, they do not interfere in any way with the removing of the filled mail-bags from the rack or putting the empty ones thereon.

I will first describe some of the embodiments of my invention, and then point out the novel features thereof in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a mail-bag rack having my improvements applied thereto; Fig. 2 is an enlarged front view of one of my improved back-stops showing it in operative position; Fig. 3 is a section on the line yy, Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a view of the lower end of one of the back stops with the label holder removed. Fig. 5 is a detail view showing a back-stop in inoperative position; Figs. 6 and 7 are views showing different forms of stops; Fig. 8 is a view 3 designates the mail-bag rack which may have any suitable or usual construction. These racks are generally open racks and at their top have a plurality of longitudinally-extending rods 4 on which the hooks 5 for supporting the mail-bags 6 are mounted. Where a rack of a large size is desired, two or more rack sections are placed together, as shown in Fig. 1, and in front of the entire rack thus made up is usually placed a table 7 on which the mail is dumped prior to being sorted. The top of the mail-bag rack is inclined, as shown in Fig. 1, and the mail clerk who stands in front of the table throws each individual piece of mail into the bag in which it belongs. The different bags are usually identified by means of labels 8 carried by label-holders 9 which are mounted on the rods 4 immediately back of each bag.

In accordance with my invention, I apply to the back rod 4 of each rack a back-stop for each bag in the back row, and these back-stops are adjustab ly mounted on the rods so that they may be thrown up into operative position to prevent any mail from being thrown over the rack, or may be turned down into inoperative position to facilitate the removal of full bags from the rack and the placing of empty bags therein.

The back-stops may be made in various ways without departing from my invention, one of the simplest forms being shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. This form of back-stop comprises a body portion 10 of substantially the shape shown in Fig. 2, and a bearing portion 11 which is bent to encircle the rod 4 and which forms a pivotal bearing for the back-stop. A back-stop thus constructed may be swung about the rod 4 into the operative position shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, or into inoperative position shown in Fig. 5. In its operative position it stands substantially vertically above the rod 4 and makes a back-stop to prevent mail from being thrown over the rack. shown the bearing portion 11 as provided with one or more shoulders 12 which are adapted to engage projections extending from the rod 4.

Since most mail-bag racks are now provided with label-holders 9, I find it convenient to employ said label-holders as the projections to hold the back-stops in their operative position. The common form of labelholder, is provided with two legs 13 which rest against the rod 4 and through which the retaining screws pass. These legs form between them an open space beneath the label-holder, and in the form of the invention shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5, the bearing portion 11 of the backstop occupies this open space, and is provided with two shoulders 12 one either side thereof. The width of the bearing portion 11. is equal to or slightly less than the In order to hold it in its operative position I have space between the legs 13, so that when the back-stop is located centrally with relation to the label-holder, it may be freely swung from its operative to its inoperative position and vice versa. By shifting the backstop laterally, however, sutficiently to bring either shoulder 12 into engagement with the corresponding leg 13 of the label-holder, the back-stop will be held in its operative position, as shown in full lines Fig. 2 and dotted lines Fig. 4.

I propose to make the back-stops of a length about equal to the space occupied by one mail-bag, so that the various back-stops will substantially touch each other, and in order to facilitate the removal of a filled mail-bag or the placing of an empty one on the rack, and also to obviate the necessity of swinging the corresponding back-stop into its inoperative position, I have cut the sides of the back-stop away as at 14 so as to leave a space at 15 through which a person may insert his hands for disconnecting the mail-bags from the hooks, as shown in Fig. 8. Some mail-bag racks have hooks 5 placed between the legs of the label-holder, and if the use of these racks is interfered with by making the back-stop with the bearing portion 11 encircling the rod 4 between the legs of the label-holder, I may adopt the form of back-stop shown in Figs. 9 and 10 in which each backstop is provided with two bearing portions 11, 11 which encircle the rod 4- just outside of the legs of the label-holder, and each of which bearing portions is provided with a notch or shoulder 12 to engage the legs of the label-holder for holding the back-stop in its operative position. This form of back-stop is cut away at its central portion to form a space 15 through which access may be had to-the hooks 5. This form of back-stop is operated in the same manner as that above described, that is, it may be unlocked by simply moving it longi tudinally of the rod 4 to disengage one of the shoulders 12 from the legs of the label-holder.

When the bearing portion is made with a notch, as in Fig. 9, two opposed shoulders are formed so that the back-stop, when in operative position, may be locked from turning movement in either direction. When the bearing portion is made with the single shoulder 12 only, the back-stop is locked against turning backwardly only.

In case it is not desired to employ the type of labelholder herein illustrated, any suitable projection such as a screw or a pin may be used for holding the backstops in their operative position. v

In Fig. 6,.I have shown a type of back-stop 10 which is hinged to the rod 4, as at 17, so that it may be swung into its operative or inoperative position as desired. This back-stop is locked in its operative position by means of a suitable locking pawl 18, as seen in Fig. 6.

- In Fig. 7, I have shown a folding back-stop, the frame body of the back-stop is formed by a net or other flexible material 22. This form of back-stop may be folded down against the rod 4 into inoperative position, as

' shown in dotted lines. I propose to employ these backstops on the back row 4 of each rack section, so that if any section is used by itself, the back-stops thereof may be brought into use. When the sections are grouped together, as shown in Fig. 1, the back-stops on the front section may be dropped into their inoperative position where they will be completely out of the way. The adjacent back-stops may either be separate and independent from each other, or they may all be connected together, as seen in Fig. 8. When they are thus connected, the whole row may be unlocked and swung into inoperative position simultaneously. This construction is convenient when all the mail-bags inthe back row are to be removed at the same time. If the various bags are to be removed at difierent times, the construction in which the back-stops are independently movable might be preferable. It will be obvious that the back-stops may assume other forms than herein illustrated. Ifdesired the back stops may be used as label holders, in which case the front face of each back stop will be provided with a label indicating the destination of the bag directly in front of the back stop.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a device of the class described, a mail-bag rack, means to suspend bags therefrom, and aback-stop for each bag at the back of the rack, said back-stops being adjustably carried by the rack and adapted to be put into their operative or inoperative position.

2. In a device of the class described, a mail-bag rack comprising a frame-work having a hoolesupporting rod at its upper back edge, means to suspend mail-bags from said rod, and a back-stop for each mail-bag adjustably mounted on said rod and adapted to be placed in its operative posi tion above the rod, or in its inoperative position below the level of the rod.

3. In a device of the class described, a mail-bag rack comprising a frame-work having a hook-supporting rod at its upper back edge, means to suspend mail-bags from said rod, and a back-stop for each mail-bag adjustably mounted on said rod and adapted to be placed in its operative position above the rod or its inoperative position below the level of the rod, and means to hold the backstops in their operative position.

4. In a device of the class described, a mail-bag rack, comprising a frame-work having a plurality of bag-supporting rods at its top, means to suspend mail-bags from said rods, and a plurality of back-stops pivotally mounted on the hack rod and adapted to be swung into operative or inoperative position, and means to hold said back-stops in their operative position.

5. In a device of the class described, a mail-bag rack, comprising a frame-work having a mail-bag supporting rod at its back side, a plurality of back-stops mounted on said rod, each back-stop having a portion encircling the rod, and provided with a shoulder and projections on the rod to engage said shoulders and hold the back-stops in their operative position.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

MARCELLUS S. FIELD.

Witnesses:

LOUIS C. Siirrn, l\/IARGARET A. DUNN. 

